justme23
01-27-2004, 11:28 PM
Just thought I would share a little bit of perspective from the words of a soldier (my uncle) on a few of his experiences. Please don't flame me, it's not to start a fight... it's just to show why I (and so many others) think we (America and her soldiers) did the right thing.
26 January 2004
Dear Everyone,
From time to time I get to sit down and talk to some Iraqis and learn about them. Some of their stories are almost beyond human comprehension, of what cruelty we can inflict on each other, and how small our problems are by comparison.
One person told of his sisters family. The whole family was brought in for no reason that they were ever told. There was the mother, father, two sons, and a daughter. All of the children were teenagers. First the daughter was repeatedly raped in front of the family. The two sons were then killed, then the daughter, and then the husband. The mother was turned loose. Evidently this was quite often done so she would repeat the story of what happened to her to everyone, and thereby spread the terror throughout the area. Since older women are thought to be of little value or threat to the government; that is who they would let go.
The lieutenant that was in charge of the rape, torture, and murders made a mistake in letting her go. After the U.S. Army came in, the lieutenant was caught by the locals, and over several days, tortured to death. They cut him into 26 pieces.
Another story I was told was of another man's brother. He had a beautiful wife, and four children, aged from a young teenager to a child. A secret police officer took and then married his wife, tried to arrest him, and his children disappeared. The brother escaped out of the country, and now has returned to look for his wife and children. It has been six years, and there are no records of his children. He lives in hope that he will find them some day. He divorced his wife, and has sworn to deal with the secret police officer if he ever finds him.
With hundreds of thousands of stories like this, how does a nation bind up its wounds? How can you heal such atrocities? It would be so easy for them to slip into an endless series of retributions for crimes committed even several generations back. Would it not be easy for someone to say that someones father killed all of his children, therefore he would kill all of his. With a court system that will probably not function effectively for years, how could they seek justice?
What amazes me the most is that the world kept silent while all this happened. We traded food for oil, but the palace that I am turning into a headquarters was all constructed with food-for-oil money. Construction was started in 1993, and it was renovated in 1998, so it was essentially constructed twice. How many children died for lack of medications so Saddam could have his palaces? And the world did nothing, and condemns us for removing the bastard from power.
Love, V*****
26 January 2004
Dear Everyone,
From time to time I get to sit down and talk to some Iraqis and learn about them. Some of their stories are almost beyond human comprehension, of what cruelty we can inflict on each other, and how small our problems are by comparison.
One person told of his sisters family. The whole family was brought in for no reason that they were ever told. There was the mother, father, two sons, and a daughter. All of the children were teenagers. First the daughter was repeatedly raped in front of the family. The two sons were then killed, then the daughter, and then the husband. The mother was turned loose. Evidently this was quite often done so she would repeat the story of what happened to her to everyone, and thereby spread the terror throughout the area. Since older women are thought to be of little value or threat to the government; that is who they would let go.
The lieutenant that was in charge of the rape, torture, and murders made a mistake in letting her go. After the U.S. Army came in, the lieutenant was caught by the locals, and over several days, tortured to death. They cut him into 26 pieces.
Another story I was told was of another man's brother. He had a beautiful wife, and four children, aged from a young teenager to a child. A secret police officer took and then married his wife, tried to arrest him, and his children disappeared. The brother escaped out of the country, and now has returned to look for his wife and children. It has been six years, and there are no records of his children. He lives in hope that he will find them some day. He divorced his wife, and has sworn to deal with the secret police officer if he ever finds him.
With hundreds of thousands of stories like this, how does a nation bind up its wounds? How can you heal such atrocities? It would be so easy for them to slip into an endless series of retributions for crimes committed even several generations back. Would it not be easy for someone to say that someones father killed all of his children, therefore he would kill all of his. With a court system that will probably not function effectively for years, how could they seek justice?
What amazes me the most is that the world kept silent while all this happened. We traded food for oil, but the palace that I am turning into a headquarters was all constructed with food-for-oil money. Construction was started in 1993, and it was renovated in 1998, so it was essentially constructed twice. How many children died for lack of medications so Saddam could have his palaces? And the world did nothing, and condemns us for removing the bastard from power.
Love, V*****